Happy 81st Birthday to Cicely Tyson! Born in Harlem, she worked as a typist before being discovered by a photographer from Ebony magazine at the age of 18. Tyson began acting in the 1950s and, in 1968, had a featured role in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. She was nominated for an Oscar in 1972’s Sounder and, in 1974, was the first African-American woman to win an Emmy. In fact, she won two that year: one for Best Actress in a Drama for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and a special Emmy for Actress of the Year. In 1977, Tyson appeared in the tremendously successful TV miniseries Roots. She is still acting and winning accolades today. She earned a third Emmy for 1994’s Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All and, most recently, Tyson became the oldest person ever to win a Tony for her Broadway performance in The Trip to Bountiful in 2013.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION

Cecily Tyson appeared in 2011’s The Help, based on the book by Kathryn Stockett. How many times was the book rejected before it was finally published?

a) 10

b) 30

c) 60

d) 70

Answer below!

DID YOU KNOW…

Tyson was married to famed jazz trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981-1988. They wed in the home of Bill Cosby, who was Davis’s best man.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved something, then there's nothing left for you to work towards. I want to believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire life striving to reach the top of it.